World War I remains on of the most influential events in the history of the world. Not only did it shape the way people lived, it also started a new poetic era, named the Modernist Era. The Modernist Era was characterized not only by "skepticism and uncertainty" but the poems also felt "personal [and] intimate" (Geno 129). Robert Frost, an American Modernist poem, originally taught in New England but always felt a calling for poetry (Geno 129). Mental illness ran in Frost's family, both sisters eventually getting institutionalized and Frost himself struggling from depression (Pritchard). In "Acquainted With the Night" Robert Frost uses a reluctantly advancing poem type, unwavering meter and rhyme scheme and abundant figurative language to fully describe his battle with depression. "Acquainted With the Night" utilizes the Terza Rima poem type to symbolize Frost's continued battle with depression. The Terza Rima poem type is easily recognized by the characteristic ABA, BCB, CDC, etc. rhyme scheme
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He begins this process in the very first line, writing, "I have been one acquainted with the night" (Frost 131), the night representing his depression. Robert Frost continues on, writing, "I have passed by the watchman on his beat/And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain" (131). Not only does this explain what he did in the moment when he saw this police officer, it also symbolizes how he interacts with people in his everyday life, not making eye contact or explaining his current mental state. Frost then uses a paradox in lines 12-13, stating, "One luminary clock against the night/Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right" (131). This shows Frost's overall indifference to time, in that though he sees the time, he does not care. When all of this figurative language is added together, it deeply describes Frost's depression in a way that prose would not be able
He begins this process in the very first line, writing, "I have been one acquainted with the night" (Frost 131), the night representing his depression. Robert Frost continues on, writing, "I have passed by the watchman on his beat/And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain" (131). Not only does this explain what he did in the moment when he saw this police officer, it also symbolizes how he interacts with people in his everyday life, not making eye contact or explaining his current mental state. Frost then uses a paradox in lines 12-13, stating, "One luminary clock against the night/Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right" (131). This shows Frost's overall indifference to time, in that though he sees the time, he does not care. When all of this figurative language is added together, it deeply describes Frost's depression in a way that prose would not be able